Guest Blogger R Joe Potasnik, EVP of the NY Board of Rabbis
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Parsha Thought...
Sometimes when I officiate at a wedding, a couple will ask, "Rabbi, do you guarantee this marriage?" My response is always the same. "I will guarantee it for the duration of the ceremony." Obviously life does not come with iron-clad guarantees.
Perhaps this week's parsha Lech Lecha reminds us that we cannot succeed unless we are willing to take necessary risks. When we select a college, we are not certain we have picked the right place until after we are there. When we choose a profession, we do not know that we will enjoy it until we are in it. When we pick a life partner we cannot receive any assurance the relationship will last a lifetime.
Our past president and colleague Rabbi Charles Klein, reminded me that the Almighty took a chance when creating the world since God's inner cabinet of angels advised that humans had potential to be destructive. Rabbi Saul Teplitz in his popular book, Life is for the Living, writes about Rafael Solaro who was discouraged in his attempt to find any precious stones. Rafael and his two companions spent months prospecting for diamonds in a Venezuelan water course in 1942. As he was about to abandon the project, one of the seekers suggested that he pick one more which would be the millionth pebble. Solaro listened and pulled one out of a pile that was the size of a hen's egg. For that millionth pebble New York jeweler Harry Winston paid him $200,000 - a record amount during that period.
Thus Abraham took a chance by embarking on a difficult journey. It may be the reason we as a people are here today.
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Shalom and Best Regards,
RRW
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